Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Perspective

The picture below, taken from Run 4 Change, has two men expressing their opinion on how deep they believe the water is. When the one man says it's deep because it's up to his chin, the other contradicts him and says it isn't because to him it's just a puddle. They see the water from two completely different angles and don't even try to relate to one another. This can be seen in A Raisin in the Sun when Mr. Lindner (a white man) doesn't understand the (black) Younger family's way of thinking.
Mr. Lindner offers the family more money than they paid for the house in return for them simply not moving into his neighboorhood. Since they would be moving into an all white occupied community he sincerely believes it would be in their best interest for them not to move in. His actions offend the family since neither side is taking into consideration the other sides perspective.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Dreams

In the picture to the right taken from the movie, Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy is shown holding his two puppies-Old Dan and Little Ann. If you're familiar with the book or movie you know that Billy wanted a coon dog badly but his family couldn't afford it. After realizing this, Billy starts to sell miscellaneous things to the passing by fishermen, gathering wild berries, and trapping to sell the furs. Although it only took him 2 years to save up enough money, which is a pretty long time to a ten year old, Billy's dream of owning a coon dog finally came true through determination and a lot of hard work.

This lesson carries over to the role of Mama, from the play A Raisin in the Sun, who has longed for a house of her own all of her life. Her husband worked hard to try to save up enough money to buy them a house. This never happened for one reason or another and they ended up having children and growing old in their apartment until one day, Lena's husband passed away. After many years and much hard work, Mama decides to use her late husband's insurance money to buy the home she has always wanted. Mama's role demonstrates if you work hard enough and long enough for something you truly want, it can happen.


Photo from: Astatalk

Risks


Picture from Filipspagnoli
The man walking across the tight rope in the picture above is taking a risk. His risk would be even higher if it wasn't for the pillow below to catch him in case he falls. He looks successful and confident in taking this risk but he still has the pillow just in case. This is just the opposite of what Walter does when taking risks in the play, A Raisin in the Sun.

Walter strongly believes he has to take a big risk in order to become successful. He once had the opportunity to go in on a dry cleaning operation but didn't because of financial hardships. He cannot get over the fact that he didn't try harder to be apart of this business after knowing how great the business has become. That's why when he has the opportunity to invest in a liquor store he does everything he can in order to make his dreams a reality. Walter never once feared that the liquor store might fail or that he just invested in a scam. Through this example Walter just goes to show, you don't always have to take some big risks to become successful.